Federer eyes 7th Wimbledon title, Murray his 1st

Tournament hasn't had a homegrown champion since 1936

July 07, 2012|By Diane Pucin, Tribune Newspapers

Andy Murray signs autographs for fans during a practice session the day before the men's final. (Clive Rose/Getty Photo)

WIMBLEDON, England — A large part of the tennis world will be rooting for the grand champion, 30-year-old Roger Federer, to win one more title, to reclaim greatness even if it's just for a day, for the player who already is considered the greatest ever, if only because he has won more major singles titles, 16, than any man, to have one more large and shining moment.

Then there's Britain.

In this country where Wimbledon is as major a sporting event as the Super Bowl is in the United States, there hasn't been a homegrown champion since Fred Perry in 1936, and not even a homegrown finalist since Bunny Austin in 1938.

Until Sunday.

Andy Murray, 25, from Scotland, will step up and play in his first Wimbledon final against the man who has played in seven.

As soon as Murray won his semifinal match Friday, ticket brokers were offering a pair of Centre Court seats for $46,000. So that offers a sense of the pressure Murray carries.

"This is what is so particular in this country, that there's so much attention on that one player," Federer said. "Let's be happy that he's such a great player that he lets that sort of hype last.

"He's only going to get better as time goes by. That's what he's been proving."

If Federer wins, he would have seven Wimbledon singles titles, the equal of Open-era record-holder Pete Sampras. He also would regain the No. 1 world ranking for the 286th week, which also would equal Sampras for the most.

Federer always speaks with admiration of Sampras, whose 14 major titles had been the most until Federer came along.

"It was an inspiration for sure to see somebody else, while I was coming up, dominating the game and breaking the all-time Grand Slam record," Federer said. "I'm sure that inspired me in some ways."

So much is Murray searching for the little something that would allow him to earn his first big title that he hired his sixth new coach since he became an ATP Tour player.

In January, Murray tabbed Ivan Lendl to be his mentor. Though Lendl never won Wimbledon, he did win eight major titles.

"The one thing I've learned from being around him," Murray said, "is that you try to make sure you don't get too high, never get too down. Maybe in the past I was too up and down."

After he beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals, though, Murray did let some emotion out. He was teary on Centre Court. If he wins Sunday, he might not be the only teary-eyed one in the country.